Money is tight for most college students, but a new way to make some quick cash has presented itself at VSU. Students who are already doing what they’re supposed to be doing—going to class, taking good notes, making good grades—have the chance to be rewarded for doing things they already do. Everybody else? Well, all they have to do is pay for the services of the aforementioned group.
Websites like Notehall.com are offering positions to good students to be just that—good students. Users of the site seem to have no complaints, judging by the testimonials on Notehall’s website.
“I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to help out my classmates while earning money for my hard work at the same time,” Caitlin Gaultney, sophomore at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, said. “I’ve always been extremely organized so I’m glad I can finally put my OCD to use.”
Amanda Auchenpaugh, a University of Georgia student, agrees.
“I love Notehall,” she said. “It is so hard to find a job in college that works with my school schedule, so getting the money I need by producing excellent schoolwork is the perfect solution.”
See what VSU students are saying about this issue in this week’s Campus Chatter
But how would the university feel about this? According to VSU’s Academic Student Conduct Code, “Academic integrity is the responsibility of all Valdosta State University employees and students.”
The code continues, stating, “No student shall receive or give or attempt to receive or give assistance not authorized by the instructor in the preparation of an essay, laboratory report, examination or other assignment included in any academic course.”
So, it sounds to us if your teacher did not explicitly say, “Go buy notes for my class off the Internet,” then any student using these note-taking services are in violation of the Academic Student Conduct Code. But the code is open to interpretation and the University has the final say.
What happens to a student in violation of this policy? Anything from failing the assignment to failing the class to expulsion from school. It is typically up to the professor and the punishment is no more severe than the crime.
Again, the university has the final say here. We say don’t chance it. When in doubt, don’t take a chance at throwing your future away.